Different types of vehicles may control and operate in very different manners. For example, an F-16 fighter jet has different controls and operating characteristics than a 747 passenger jet or a helicopter. Due to such differences, robust training and certification are typically required for pilots to operate specific vehicles, especially for different types or categories of aircraft. For example, aircraft pilots may have different certifications, ratings, privileges, and limitations regarding the specific make and model of aircraft they are able and allowed to control due to training and/or rated skill sets. Similar certifications may one day be needed for piloting unmanned vehicles, such as commercial and/or hobby drone piloting.
Before operating a different aircraft type or category, pilots typically need to first become certified for or “checked out” in the new aircraft type. For example, before a fixed-wing pilot can fly a helicopter the pilot must obtain numerous hours of aeronautical experience in the specific type of helicopter before being allowed to obtain a license to operate such an aircraft, regardless of previous experience with fixed-wing aircraft.
Nevertheless, piloting experience and knowledge regarding one vehicle type may be relevant to another vehicle type or otherwise translate for some phases of operations of the other vehicle type. For example, a fixed-wing aircraft pilot's experience may be at least partially relevant to controlling some aspects of a helicopter. Such overlapping pilot experience may similarly apply to unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs), including air vehicle UAVs that are fixed-wing-type and rotorcraft-type (e.g., quadcopters, multicopters, etc.). For example, as each air vehicle UAV type may share some similar characteristic where lift and power are involved in order to maintain controlled flight, a pilot licensed or otherwise certified to control one air vehicle UAV type may have some ability to fly another air vehicle UAV type. Regardless of any similarities, fixed-wing-type and rotorcraft-type UAVs clearly exhibit very different handling characteristics and control rules in some phases of their operation. Thus pilots' training for one type of aircraft (manned or UAV) may not make them eligible to properly operate other types of aircraft. For example, a fixed-wing aircraft pilot may be able to fly a rotorcraft-type UAV during the cruise phase of flight with some difficulty, but unable to land the rotorcraft-type UAV due to the very different landing methods used by rotorcraft.